Love and War
by slstmaraudersjple
Summary: Love isn't fair, and neither is war. Ari knows this. Kate/Ari, Kari. One-shot.


Summary: Love isn't fair, and neither is war. Ari knows this. Kate/Ari, Kari. One-shot.

Prompt: "All's fair in love and war"

A/N: Uhhh… I was pretty surprised when this plot bunny popped into my head. This is actually my first NCIS fanfic. Of course, if I was asked/told to write one, I would have never even begun to guess Kate/Ari. I'm actually not really a fan of Kate/Ari, but I still find their relationship intriguing. So I decided to give this a go and do a bit of a character study into our favorite NCIS villain. One-sided Kate/Ari, dialogue taken directly from the show. I guess this would be considered romance/angst/something if you squint…. I posted this up on tumblr a while ago but I felt it was more appropriate to move it to FFN, so here we go! Let me know what you think! :)

**Love and War**

"All's fair in love and war."

Ari has heard of it before, but he knows that it's a lie.

Because love isn't fair, and neither is war.

He doesn't love Caitlyn. He knows this. Certainly, he's attracted to her, and he knows that she's attracted to him, but it doesn't go further than that.

He remembers the first time they met in the autopsy room at NCIS. He is holding Doctor Mallard and his assistant Gerald, hostage. Caitlyn takes the evidence down and when she turns to leave he spots the gun sticking out of her back pocket. Not taking chances, he takes her hostage as well. She is intelligent, even managing to turn the tables on him and point her gun at him. Despite her strong facade, despite the fact that her finger is on the trigger and she can have ended his life at that instant, he sees the hesitation in her eyes. As a trained Mossad agent, he is taught to take advantage of any situation - and so he does, using her hesitation as a chance to escape. Now he wonders why she hesitated, but he knows he will never find or get the answer, and all he can do is wonder.

He laughs quietly as he remembers the next time they meet - he's riding his motorcycle with two of his men following him. In hindsight, he knows that red is rather bright and noticeable (Abba or Ziva would probably say 'flashy' and 'impractical'), but he likes that color, so he'll take his chances. As his luck goes, she is standing at the corner of the crosswalk and notices him. He flashes her a smile and speeds off. She attempts to stop him but he's too fast, so she orders the nearest car to stop - ironically, the one his men are driving - and orders them to follow him. When his men find out she's an NCIS agent, they kidnap her and bring her to their temporary headquarters. He remembers pulling her out of the car and ignoring the surprise and resignation flashing across her face, asks if she's all right. She gives him a curt "No." before turning and slapping Bassam in the face in payback for slapping her earlier. She looks satisfied as his head snaps back. When Bassam looks forward again, his nose is broken and he looks furious, but Ari stops him from inflicting further harm on Caitlyn. He asks her dryly, "Satisfied?" and is amused when she responds, "No. He smacked me twice." Stopping her from attempting to hit Bassam again, he says, "Being slapped by a woman is twice the insult to Bassam." She retorts, "Really? What about being shot by one?" He remembers her intelligence when she continuously reveals which shell holds the target and he remembers laughing.

Despite the fact that they are on opposite sides, they get along rather well, he thinks. He wonders what their relationship would've been like if they were on the same side - he with the Americans or her with Mossad, or anywhere really - but then shakes his head. He was raised to be realistic. There is no room in Mossad for dreams and hope - they will only serve to get you killed.

He admires her. She's strong - she reminds him of his half-sister, Ziva, who is also in Mossad. They are both intelligent, strong, independent, beautiful, and different. Unlike the typical women in his country that are submissive.

He notices one of his men signalling him from across the building. NCIS has arrived at the scene. He signals back for his men to delay the agents while he scans the area. He sees the NCIS van pulling up next to a building and Timothy McGee, Anthony DiNozzo, Gibbs, and Caitlyn stepping out. Timothy sets up his laptop behind the van to start dismantling the missile.

He turns back to one of his men and signals for them to start shooting. When he hears the sounds of guns firing, he looks back at the scene where NCIS is. Timothy is taking cover while still dismantling the missile and DiNozzo is covering him. Gibbs and Caitlyn are gone.

He knows it's only a matter of time before they find the man controlling the missle, and as he glances at the man kneeling next to the side of the building typing in controls and moving the joystick while trying to shake off Timothy, he knows it's almost over.

He steels himself with determination and resolve and looks down at the rifle in his hands. He personally picked it out himself - a Bravo-51 Remington 700M, nicknamed 'Kate'. It's ironic, he knows, that he chose this particular rifle. A fitting end, he thinks, to their relationship that would have never been.

He knows that, no matter what, he must accomplish his mission. And his target is Gibbs. Everyone else is collateral damage, chess pieces to manipulate to get to the king.

He watches impassively as his men are being taken out and Gibbs crashes the missile into the ocean. DiNozzo meets up with Gibbs and Caitlyn on top of the building after all of (his) men in the area have been taken out.

Except for him.

It's time.

He positions his rifle and looks through the telescopic sight and focuses on his target. Through the lens, he can see Caitlyn talking to Gibbs. Gibbs's lips are moving. He can read the words forming.

**"Protection de-"**

He thinks that it would have been nice if he and Caitlyn could see each other face to face one last time, but he knows that will never happen.

**"-tail's over-"**

So he pulls the trigger, murmuring almost regretfully, _"Sorry Caitlyn."_

It's never fair in love and war.


End file.
